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ORATION 



DELIVERED BEFORE THE 



CITIZENS OF THE TOWN OF QUINCY, 



FOURTH OF JULY, 1835, 



FIFTY-NINTH ANNIVERSARY 



OF THE 



IIVDEPEIVDEJVCE 



OF THE 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 



BY SOLOMON LINCOLN. 



HINGHAM: 
JEDIDIAH FARMER. 



1835. 



HI z g"4 

It 25" 



QtJiNCY, July 6, 1835. 
Hon. Solomon Lincoln, 

Sir, — The Committee of Arrangements, in behalf of the citizens of 
Quincy, present you their thanks for the able, patriotic, and eloquent Oration de- 
livered by you on the 4th inst. and respectfully solicit a copy for publication. 
Harvey Field, Frederick Hardwick, Jr. 

George W. Beale, Jabez Bigelow, 

Nathaniel VVhite, Abner Willett, 

Nathan Josselyn, Thomas Adams, Jr., 

Ebenr. Underwood, Jr. Ibrahim Bartlett. 

Samuel Curtis, 



HiNGHAM, July 10, 1835. 
Gentlemen, 

A copy of the Oration delivered at Quincy, on the 4th inst. is here- 
with submitted to your disposal, in compliance with your request. 
I am very respectfully, 
your obedient servant, 

Solomon Lincoln. 

To Harvey Field, Esq. and others. 

Composing the Committee of Arrangements. 



i4T^c ;;l 



# 



ORATION 



FELLOW CITIZEXS- 



The observance of our great national festival is a 
good omen for the republic. It excites us to a con- 
templation of topics, which, although supposed to be 
familiar and well understood, are presented in new 
aspects by every revolution of time and every change 
of circumstance. It calls us together from those 
avocations which absorb the mind and excite the pas- 
sions, to reflect upon characters and events whose 
influence is closely interwoven with the destinies of 
our whole Country — not only of our Country, but 
with the cause of liberty every where — not limited 
to the present, but extending to the momentous in- 
terests of all posterity. 

The observance of this day of glorious recollec- 
tions stirs up within us those emotions, which keep 
alive the sentiments upon which the hopes of the 
human race rest, for the perpetuity of our free gov- 
ernment, and for its reviving and reforming influence 
upon the human character and condition. 

We have no fear of the popular enthusiasm kin- 



died at this altar, when we celebrate the virtues and 
the valor of our Revolutionary race of statesmen and 
warriors ; we care not how generous are the out- 
pourings of gratitude — nor how far is heard the sound 
of jour rejoicing. 

Standing as we do amid the graves of the patriot 
dead and surrounded by their monuments, there will 
be a solemnity in our reflections which will temper 
the gaiety and chasten the joy of the heart. 

On such an occasion and in such a place, the ex- 
citing history and recollections of past time rush up- 
on us with an overpowering influence. We feel in- 
adequate even to embrace within the scope of our 
observation, the luminous track upon which the mind 
is led by the spirit-stirring associations of the day. 

The scenes of the Revolution — those which open 
upon our contemplation during the period of angry 
controversy which preceded the breaking out of open 
war — when the orator defended the cause of liberty 
and right in tones which inspired hope, nerved the 
arm of the oppressed and carried dismay to the heart 
of the oppressor — those scenes of thrilling interest 
where your fathers poured out their life blood as the 
seal of their devotion to the cause of their country 
— those where your gallant leaders summoned the 
followers of liberty from fields of battle to lay down 
their arms and establish institutions to secure the ob- 
jects of their unmeasured sacrifices — those in fine, 
when the fearful experiment of our free govern- 
ment was to be tried by an almost exhausted people, 
when the blighting influence of protracted war had 



almost destroyed the energies of the nation and with- 
ered every thing which it touched except that indom- 
itable spirit which burned even with a purer flame — 
All these scenes open upon us to day in all their as- 
pects with the most striking effect. 

The actors in those scenes to which I have allud- 
ed — the martyred heroes w^ho fell beneath the stand- 
ard of liberty — the fortunate and victorious bands 
who survived them, and who yet linger in the beau- 
tiful land made free by their valor — the daring 
statesmen who poured out their whole souls in in- 
dignant eloquence against the edicts of tyraimy, and 
imbued the minds of the people with the loftiest 
spirit of independence — All these must appear 
prominent upon the canvass of him who would paint 
the glorious scenes of the Revolution with fidelity 
and truth. 

But art will be powerless to describe them. Elo- 
quence itself stands rebuked amid the grandeur 
which bursts upon the view. The deeds of the 
Revolutionary patriots are high above the reach of 
eloquence. Their history is brighter than the colors 
of the canvass. It has life which no genius can 
impart. We can weave no chaplet of renown so 
beautiful as that which they bound around their own 
brows ; we can give them no diadem, the lustre of 
which can equal the brilliancy of that which they 
fashioned with their own hands. 

I remarked that the observance of our great na- 
tional festival was a good omen for the republic. It 
is so — because it shows that in the midst of our high 



and palmy prosperity, we are not careless of the 
principles on which that prosperity is founded. It 
evinces an attachment to the sentiments, the culti- 
vation of which is essential to preserve the golden 
band of our Union unbroken. And if there be any 
one cause more than another which can exert upon 
us a strong influence to induce us to discard deep 
rooted prejudices, angry partisan feelings, local jeal- 
ousies, it is an occasional reference to the great 
principles which guided our fathers through the 
storm of the Revolution, and which urged them on- 
ward to cement the Union with their blood. If we 
wish to rise above the debasing contentions which 
estrange us from each other — the fierce contests for 
power which too frequently distract and divide us — 
the various influences which break us up into mass- 
es and induce us to range ourselves under diflerent 
banners, as undue selfishness or unrestrained ambi- 
tion shall dictate, or perhaps as the horn of party 
shall be sounded — I say if we wish to rise above 
sordid influences of this kind, and to breathe a purer 
and a better atmosphere, we must go back to the 
days of the Revolution — we must inhale its animat- 
ing spirit and enrich ourselves by drinking from those 
fountains to which patriots and sages of former davs 
resorted for strength and nourishment. We shall 
then be imbued with the right spirit, with which to 
pursue the course dictated by patriotism and a care- 
ful regard for the interests of posterity ; and shall 
better appreciate the responsibilities which rest up- 
on us in all the relations of freemen. 



There is one beautiful feature in the characters 
of the patriots of the American Revolution — I mean 
their disinterestedness — their manifest disregard of 
personal considerations, in all their efforts, from the 
time of their first movements towards Revolution 
in the primary assemblies of the people, to its final 
accomplishment of our Independence. Their whole 
course indicated a warm — a devoted attachment to 
those rights which they foresaw^ to be of vital impor- 
tance to posterity. They periled all for those who 
were to come after them. Death in the field of 
battle, the halter, or the dungeon might be their 
portions, but could not deter those high-souled men 
from making an effort to throw off the chains and 
fetters which bound them. When contending for 
liberty against force with a zeal springing from a 
prophetic reliance upon glorious issues — self seems 
to have been lost — to have been buried in the very 
depths of their enthusiasm. The condition of the 
country, their own circumstances, nothing, in the 
very nature of the case, could encourage them to 
hope for brilliant rewards, even if successful, except 
that noble satisfaction of planting amid the desola- 
tion of war those seeds of Liberty which might take 
deep root, spring up in after time as vigorous as our 
native oaks, and produce a grateful shade, under 
which posterity might repose for ages. 

The advance of the country in prosperity has con- 
firmed the hopes of our fathers. The Declaration 
of Independence, and the exposition of the princi- 
ples of Liberty preceding and subsequent to the time 



8 

of its publication, were then considered by the mass 
of mankind as the results of rash and inexperienced 
counsels ! Thej had, in the eve of the superficial 
and aristocratic observer, an air of mild and romantic 
daring. But the long, obstinate and bloody struggle 
which followed, gave strong evidence to the world 
that few revolutions had been more maturely con- 
sidered, more resolutely planned or more sincerely 
sustained than our own. But it required time and 
experience to test the validity of the Declaration un- 
der which our fathers fought. Liberty upon parch- 
ment was one thing. Liberty in practice might be 
another. It remained even after the brilliant achieve- 
ment of Independence was complete, to be seen 
whether the principles of the Adamses, Quincys and 
Hancocks could stand the test of time ; it was yet 
to be proved, whether such modifications of power as 
they proposed to establish in place of that from which 
they had revolted, would be adapted to the genius 
and spirit of the people. In all great points their 
declarations have been confirmed ; time has proved 
that it was not only safe to entrust our citizens with 
all the power which they claimed as British Subjects, 
but with the exercise of all the rights of republican 
freemen. 

The capacity of the people for self government 
was denied, the idea was even derided. No consti- 
tution, it was declared, could be framed sufficiently 
energetic to curb a licentious spirit, and at the same 
time sufficiently liberal to give effect to the popular 
will. Philosophers and statesmen of the old world 



doubted the practicability of establishing constitu- 
tional liberty, to be preserved by the force of public 
opinion. But we have the experiment before us. 
We can now rejoice that the statesmen who laid 
the foundations of our Constitution and who reared 
upon them its harmonious and majestic fabric, did 
not mistake the efficacy of public opinion. Their 
eloquent appeals and powerful arguments were not 
employed in imposing a delusion on the people, 
but in devising a form of government best designed 
to preserve their rights and liberties, and at the same 
time to unite in strong, and we trust, indissoluble 
bonds of Union, their whole strength. If there are 
among us those who contributed in any way to the 
accomplishment of this result, how noble the satis- 
faction in the emotions which are excited by these 
considerations. The perils of the hard fought battle, 
the distresses of war in their worst form, and which 
accompanied victory itself, are richly compensated 
in the consciousness that these perils and distresses 
worked out for the people a glorious inheritance. 
The ardent hopes of the patriots were consummated 
— reality surpasses their highest anticipations. 

Fellow Citizens — We would gladly dwell upon 
the characters and events of the revolution — we 
would prolong our reflections upon those scenes 
which combine the novelty of romance with the re- 
ality of truth — we would visit the fields crimsoned 
with the blood of our heroes, and the council cham- 
bers consecrated by the eloquence of our statesmen 
2 



10 



— we would wander among the graves of the gallant 
bands who repose in the soil which their valor de- 
fended, but we are compelled to tear ourselves away 
from them, to consider other topics which the occasion 
presses upon our attention. The language of eulogy 
is always more grateful than that of sober discussion 
— but we utter the warmest eulogy upon our patriot 
fathers, when we deliberate upon the institutions 
which they have left to us, and consider the means 
by which they are to be maintained. " On the ides of 
March," said a noble Roman to Cassius, before tho 
battle of Philippi, " on the ides of March, 1 devot- 
ed my life to my country, and since that time, I have 
lived a life of liberty and glory." May we not em- 
ulate this brilliant example. The untried future is 
before us. Our country is yet to pass through ages 
of prosperous or adverse fortune, yet if on each an- 
niversary of its freedom the whole people gather 
around the altars of religion and devote themselves 
to their country, may they not also anticipate lives of 
liberty and glory for themselves and their posterity. 
How can we best devote ourselves to our country.'^ 
Peace sheds its refreshing influence around us. 
We live under institutions, social and political, of 
our own choice. They are such, also, as we believe 
to be adapted to our character, interest and condi- 
tion. This belief has experience of considerable 
extent for its foundation. As the people are sup- 
posed to be the best judges of their own welfare, 
should they not be appealed to and urged to consid- 
er well in what their welfare consists. 



11 

If I am right in the suggestions made touching tlie 
character of our institutions, if they are thus pre- 
cious to us, we best devote ourselves to our country 
by carefully investigating the causes which injure 
and cherishing the means which uphold them. 

Can we doubt the efficacy of our form of govern- 
ment, and the nature of our institutions to meet the 
wants of the people. Contrast them with those of 
other nations or former ages. Will you go back to 
those aristocratic forms whose tendency was to build 
up classes in society — where place and preferment 
and influence were conferred on other considerations 
than those of talent and integrity. Not that these 
do not have some influence upon those who adminis- 
ter such governments and dispense their favors ; but 
they are not the sure and certain means which pro- 
cure honorable distinction in offices of emolument or 
influence. The blood of royalty or the wide domains 
of a wealthy ancestry may place the favored posses- 
sor in the high places of the state and give him the 
power to establish the laws of the land. The rays 
of royal patronage will, it is true, occasionally warm 
into exertion the talent w^hich shines in obscurity; and 
the pride of power will select from the learned, the 
eloquent and the brave, those who can be induced 
to defend the prerogatives of the crown, and main- 
tain the principles of aristocracy. The great mass 
however must be content with subordinate station, 
and inferior influence in society. The road to pre- 
ferment and posts of honor is not an open highway 
where all may travel with freedom, but it is a guard- 



12 

ed and narrow passage, where the agents of power 
give admission to those only whose genius and learn- 
ing may be turned to the best account in embellish- 
ing the time honored institutions and splendid forms 
by which the delusion is kept up and imposed on 
the public mind. 

The tendencies of a republican government are of 
an opposite character. They foster, as they should, 
a sense of individual importance and personal rights ; 
they make every citizen to feel that he enjoys, or 
ought to enjoy, equal privileges wdth his neighbor ; 
and they throw open the avenues to preferment, to 
influence and to wealth, to all who please to enter 
them. True it may be, that " the formalities of a 
free and the ends of a despotic State have often sub- 
sisted together." The magic of names and sounds 
may not have ceased, and may not entirely cease, 
until human nature is divested of its susceptibility of 
corruption, and the mischievous effects of imperfect 
education or debasing habits are destroyed. But be- 
cause there may be some evils — some abuses mingled 
with freedom itself, and inseparable from the insti- 
tutions formed to protect us in the enjoyment of it, 
we are not to conclude that these evils are to be 
overcome by the subversion of the institutions them- 
selves. No — we will cling to our free government 
and popular institutions, as to the pillars upon which 
the hopes of the human race rest for advancement 
in all the great interests and objects of society. 
They open a field wide enough for the exertion of 
the most splendid talents and the richest powers of 



13 

mind. So great a variety of pursuits are presented 
free for our selection, in which the citizen may find 
an easy path to eminence and usefulness, that we 
cannot lament the destruction of any system of gov- 
ernment where the public honors were lavished on 
a few, and a chilling influence was shed over genius 
and learning. A feeling of equality is cherished, but 
it is a feeling which checks a servile spirit, without 
destroying that sincere and manly respect for talent 
and merit, necessary to maintain the harmony and 
beauty of our republican system. The spirit of our 
institutions, as it encourages, so it requires the citi- 
zen to devote himself to his country. The public 
voice will not tolerate those who load the mind wdth 
the ornaments of literature, and who, when the pub- 
lic good or public safety demand, shrink from the 
responsibility of manly action ; but rather sustains 
those who give up their treasures of intellectual ac- 
quisition, to the service of the State. No routine of 
honors excepts the citizen from the calls of his coun- 
try, no discharge of duties exonerates him. He may 
have been elevated to the highest official station in 
the republic, and like Washington, have retired to 
the repose of social and domestic life, yet still he 
may be summoned from the retreats which ambition 
does not enter, to fill other stations, and bear other 
burthens, in obedience to the public voice, and in 
beautiful keeping with the simplicity of the republi- 
can character. 

Every citizen should understand his rights, his du- 
ties, and the character of the government and insti- 



14 

tutions under which he lives. He should never for- 
get that his vote, his voice or his example are to be 
given and exerted as his judgment shall decide the 
interests of his country may require. 

Opinions are free. There is no tyranny here 
which can stifle the press by its edicts. We can 
think and write and speak as we please on the sub- 
ject of our rights and privileges, without danger of 
being arraigned at the tribune to answer for the of- 
fence. The freedom of the press is part of liberty 
itself — it is essential to its existence. Without it, 
it withers, droops and dies. Destroy the freedom 
of the press, and your liberties are gone forever. 
Sustain it and you may bid defiance to any perma- 
nent usurpations of power. I am aware that the 
press may become licentious — but experience has 
proved, that it partakes as much of this character 
when the greatest efforts are made to chain down its 
power, as when it flourishes in unrestricted freedom. 
Some evils accompany the exercise of the most val- 
uable privileges, but as Americans we can never prize 
too highly that engine through which this people 
were electrified by the warm appeals of our Revolu- 
tionary writers, and roused to enthusiastic coopera- 
tion to obtain their independence. 

As we value liberty, as we value truth, as we re- 
ly upon the strong support of enlightened public opin- 
ion to hold our government together, and to preserve 
its purity and power, we must uphold at all hazards, 
the freedom of the press. When corruption shall 
insidiously creep into our institutions, when wild am- 



15 

bition shall avail itself of your popular forms to in- 
vest itself with undue influence and undeserved hon- 
or, when demagogues shall sport with jour rights, 
when liberty herself shall show symptoms of decay, 
what but the thunders of the press can rouse the 
sleeping energies of the people — blast the projects 
of designing ambition, and dash the hopes of tyranny 
to the earth. The lightning w^hich Franklin drew 
from the heavens, was not more powerful, than the 
energies which he infused into the press ; and the 
physical creation is not more refreshed and purified 
by the one, than the moral and political world is 
elevated and illuminated by the other. 

We admit in a government like our own, that the 
majority must and ought to govern. Acquiescence 
in their decisions is considered the vital principle of 
republics. By this it is intended that the constitut- 
ed authorities and laws of the land, by whomsoever 
administered, are to be sustained. If majorities err 
and become unreasonable, the press is free, the bal- 
lot boxes are free, and they are a safer corrective of 
abuses than force or revolution. They are indeed the 
only safe remedy for republics. If majorities are right 
— if men in power are right, through the press and the 
ballot boxes, the public voice will be heard, proclaim- 
ing the true sentiments of the people. If public 
opinion is right, it will infuse into the government 
its right and healthful spirit ; if wrong, it has a self- 
redeeming power which will ultimately save the peo- 
ple from their own errors, and contribute to their 
true honor and glory. 



16 

We speak of our excellent institutions and of our 
obligations to maintain them. How shall we do this? 
We may entertain differences of opinion as to some 
of the means to be used, and there are others which, 
owing to a variety of causes, are disregarded, per- 
haps overlooked. Popular clamor is sometimes rais- 
ed with great effect by ambitious men to impair, if 
not to destroy some of the most important means 
formerly deemed essential to the preservation of lib- 
erty. We grow indifferent to others, and especially 
those when we do not fully realize their close con- 
nexion with all our important interests. Their in- 
fluence is comparatively silent in its operation, and 
hence unobserved. 

Of this latter class is a learned and independent 
Judiciary. Here is a power, which by expounding 
and applying the collected wisdom of past ages, com- 
bined with and modified by the improved legislation 
which the progress of civilization demands, affects the 
concerns of every individual in society. There are 
none so elevated as to be beyond the reach of its 
jurisdiction, none so low^ as to be deprived of its ef- 
ficacious protection. Its broad shield protects every 
citizen of the republic. We have reason to rejoice 
that the fountains of justice in this country have been 
kept pure and unsullied. The judicial power is the 
great regulator of all the business of the countr3^ 
How important then that it should be kept above the 
reach of the passions, prejudices and interests, which 
are the causes of popular excitement. The advan- 
tages of such a power are felt, while the sources 



17 



from whence thej are derived, are unseen and un- 
known. 

Take the Supreme Court of the United States as 
an illustration of these remarks. We hear of no el- 
oquent harangues made there, no party addresses, no 
splendid orations ; there are no appeals to popular 
prejudices, but patient, learned and laborious inves- 
tigations of great fundamental principles lying at the 
very foundation of the most important transactions 
of society. There is no patronage to bestow, no 
splendor to dazzle, no pomp to display. But there is 
integrity, there is learning, there is patriotism, oper- 
ating like the sunshine and the shower, with a re- 
freshing yet almost silent influence, with a uniform 
and beautiful result — and that result the harmonious 
and faithful administration of the laws and the char- 
ter of our liberties. 

The venerable man who presides in that Court by 
his pure integrity — his surpassing capacity — his Ro- 
man firmness in the discharge of official obligations, 
has given to our judiciary an attraction, a strength 
and we trust a permanency, w^hich will cause it to 
stand, as long as liberty itself, a beautiful pillar to 
support the Union and the Constitution. Long may 
it stand to uphold to embellish and protect them. 
Long may that venerable patriarch be spared to his 
country to bless the land of his fathers, and to point 
out those great landmarks w^hich will be the guide 
of all posterity. 

May I be pardoned, Fellow Citizens, in making a 
few remarks upon another instrument of preserving 
3 



18 

American Liberty, which appears to be fast falling in- 
to disrepute. I allude to an institution against which 
even Philanthropy has waged war, as I think upon 
false grounds and from mistaken apprehensions. The 
enervating influences of peace are too apt to induce 
forgetfulness of those services to which a nation may 
be indebted for its very existence ; and a people 
strong in the confidence of prosperity often dis- 
regard those duties which experience has proved to 
be essential to liberty. Despotism has not yet been 
driven from the earth, nor even from the borders of 
civilization and refinement. Europe, in some of its 
fairest portions, is yet swayed by powers as unfriend- 
ly to the advance of liberal opinions, as they were 
centuries ago. They have well appointed armies 
and efficient navies to enforce their opinions and 
maintain their power, whenever it would be safe and 
expedient. I do not suppose that these powers would 
desire to try another experiment on Bunker Hill, to 
test the valor of our militia, so long as we retain 
even the forms of an institution which has done so 
much for liberty. But this I venture to assert, let 
the people go on as they have done, to destroy the 
life and spirit of the militia ; repeal the statutes 
which hold in existence this " best ornament of the 
country in peace, and sure defence in war," and this 
boasted land of liberty would present an inviting field 
for the veteran armies of Europe, in which to riot 
with impunity and unbridled licentiousness. After 
years of peace and repose, the cause would not raise 
up armies for our defence, as in the Revolution. Our 



19 

rights abroad, also, would be trifled with, the mo- 
ment they were not well guarded at home. 

A voice from yonder grave yard speaks to us in 
these words, " No free government was ever found- 
ed, or ever preserved its liberty without uniting the 
character of citizen and soldier in those destined for 
the defence of the State."* The same eloquent 
voice declares to us that this institution is the natural 
strength and only stable safeguard of a free country. 

I hear also the voice of another patriot who was 
ready to '* sink or swim" with the cause of inde- 
pendence, speaking to us in admonition, that our lib- 
erties cannot be preserved except by the aid of an 
efficient militia. 

It is not too late to catch the spirit of departed 
sages; there is yet among us and around us evidence 
that the ardor which animated their breasts is felt by 
a large portion of the young men of the land. The 
voices of Quincy and Adams are yet sounding in our 
ears with prophetic admonition — and shall we, in the 
very years when we are raising magnificent monuments 
to the memory of the brave militia men who fell as 
martyrs in the cause of liberty, shall we suffer the very 
institution of which they were the ornament to fall 
into disgrace or perish by our neglect. Forbid it 
patriotism — forbid it reverence for our ancestry. Let 
not the same people who rear the lofty pile to com- 
memorate the achievements of the militia of the rev- 
olution, erect a monument of their own degeneracy, 
but imbibing the true principles upon which the de- 

* Quincy. 



20 

fence of a republic is founded — rescue the institution 
from the neglect into which it is rapidly falling, and 
by sustaining the patriotic spirit wherever they find 
it, save from utter destruction this right arm of the 
nation. Are we supinely to give up every mode of 
defence ? Is war, if it must come, to find us without 
preparation? Shall too the same feeling of indifference 
which has been manifested towards the militia ex- 
tend to our gallant navy ? Why may it not ? Why 
— if it is not deemed important or patriotic to plant 
the flag of our country among our native hills, why 
should it be unfurled upon every distant sea and up- 
on the shores of every foreign land ? We will not 
give way to this delusion. The banner of our coun- 
try shall yet float in triumph in the " battle and the 
breeze," and if the cause demands it, many brave 
and virtuous hearts shall rally around it, whether un- 
furled on land or sea, in defence of our Country's 
Independence. We will go on, consistently, to raise 
the loftiest memorials of art to perpetuate the fame 
of the men who sustained our excellent defensive 
institutions — but we will at the same time, lay the 
strong foundations of more enduring monuments of 
their renown by reviving and cherishing the institu- 
tions which they left to us, with the most anxious 
vigilance. 

Aside from the preservation of the invaluable in- 
stitutions of our fathers, we are to watch carefully 
the signs of the times. The inventive genius of man 
is ever striking out new paths for ambition, and cre- 
ating novelties to amuse and delude us. We should 



21 

carefully notice every circumstance or incident which 
may tend to weaken the attachment of one portion 
of the inhabitants of the Union to an other ; and 
yet we should maintain, with all the force of argu- 
ment in our power, such opinions as we conceive to 
be essential to the interests and happiness of the 
whole country. In a land where mind is claimed 
to be free, flagrant errors of conduct or opinion should 
be rebuked with firmness yet with caution. Let 
there be no such thing as a servile spirit among us ; 
and while philanthropy, in various forms, is exerting 
herself to relieve the country of a great national evil 
— the slavery of a large portion of the people to 
another — let us also study well to keep the mind free 
from the shackles of mental servitude. And again, 
while philanthropy watches every ray of hope by 
which the people may be guided to the relief of those 
who are in domestic bondage among us — let us be- 
ware, lest by throwing open too freely the asylum 
of liberty to the oppressed of other climes, and af- 
fording to them almost so soon as they inhale the at- 
mosphere of our land, the privileges of American Cit- 
izens, we do not fasten upon ourselves chains and 
fetters — temporal and spiritual — even before we feel 
that they are forged. Let the oppressed and virtu- 
ous stranger be received with open arms — let the 
patriot of other lands, who flies from persecution, 
enjoy repose beneath the shelter of our laws — let him 
taste the luxuries of civil and religious liberty — let 
him share in our prosperous or adverse fortunes- 
give to him the ample protection of law — but give 



22 

him not the power to frame jour laws, or to elect 
your rulers until time enough has elapsed to enable 
him to obtain a thorough acquaintance with the prin- 
ciples of our government, and fully to assimilate 
himself to the American character. This is no work 
of a day or of a week, but of years of careful study 
and strict investigation. Let him have time enough 
to learn that there are varied interests in this exten- 
sive republic, and that the great duty of a patriotic 
citizen is to appreciate and harmonize them. I would 
not harshly close the portals of liberty against any 
who are sincerely seeking its protection, or its priv- 
ileges ; but I would carefully guard it from the cor- 
ruption of those, who, while we were working with 
enthusiasm to devise some scheme to strike off the 
manacles of others, were firmly riveting our own. 

Liberty can be preserved only by the most untiring 
vigilance. To the exercise of this vigilance, we are 
prompted by every consideration which can influence 
us as descendants of the heroes of the revolution — 
as patriots — as men. The world is looking with in- 
tense interest upon all our movements, either with 
fear or approbation. Tyrants and the advocates of 
tyranny are anticipating the time when our vigorous 
republic shall be given up to fierce contentions, sec- 
tional quarrels, and perhaps to civil or servile war ; 
and then with their rejoicing at such a solution of 
the problem of free government before them, they 
may go on complacently to extend the prerogatives 
of despotic power, and bind in still more abject sla- 
very the best hopes of the human race. 



23 



There are two nations of Europe with whom the 
relations of this government are peculiar and inter- 
esting — Great Britain and France. With both we 
have associations connected with this day, though 
somewhat of an opposite character. Notwithstand- 
ing the oppressive measures w^hich Great Britain 
adopted towards the Colonies, still we cannot look 
upon many of her ancient institutions without awe. 
Genius has filled the land with her beautiful produc- 
tions. Poetry has hallowed it wdth her inspiration. 
Learning has enriched it with her choicest gems. It 
contains the graves of our ancestors. 

But we all know with what jealousy and even con- 
tempt the leading statesmen of Great Britain, have 
looked upon our prosperity. Under whatever party, 
or name they may have rallied they have not scru- 
pled, in some foim or other, to attack and deride us. 
Her titled aristocrats have scarcely been behind the 
boasting advocates of popular rights in predicting the 
downfall of this government ; but, Fellow Citizens, 
we should receive from these suggestions an instruc- 
tive lesson. If we look well to our great duties as 
American Citizens, if we avoid, as we may, the evils 
which most beset us — this republic may stand as the 
light and blessing of posterity when the magnificent 
and time-honored institutions of Great Britain shall 
have been crushed under their ow^n weight. The 
cumbrous mass even now almost trembles on its base 
— the fires of liberty slumber beneath it — and as the 
weight of the gorgeous pile accumulates, the hidden 
elements may burst forth with all the force of the 



24 

volcano and the earthquake. If, however, the inter- 
ests of mankind require it — if freedom calls for it — 
if justice pleads and religion demands it — better that 
the magnificent structure should be scattered in frag- 
ments than that these should be retarded in their 
progress. If the British Monarchy is not to stand 
amid the waves of popular commotion, better that its 
disjointed elements should be separated with prompt- 
ness and energy, rather than that the causes which 
threaten its downfall should multiply to such an extent 
as to rage beyond control, and accomplish the work 
of reform by bloody revolution and civil war. 

France, has been deeply convulsed by the opera- 
tion of a love of liberty burning with too great vio- 
lence. We always regard with deep interest the 
rapid and capricious changes in that beautiful land. 
Our sympathies are with her. The French, in their 
enthusiastic pursuit of something in the name of lib- 
erty, seem to have chased a phantom continually 
eluding their grasp. The very violence of the strug- 
gles of Revolutionary France exhausted and destroy- 
ed the power of retaining what liberty she acquired. 
She could not be contented with the simplicity of 
true republicanism ; but rushed into the opposite ex- 
treme of pomp, splendor and excess. Reactions, as 
they created, so they destroyed freedom. Yet we 
trust, as time advances, France may yet obtain that 
liberty which has so long been the object of her 
fruitless pursuit ; when she shall learn that liberty 
does not consist in using her friends, as if they were 
to become her enemies ; nor in postponing the claims 



25 

of justice to consider the best methods of trammel- 
ing the press ; nor in evading, by specious preten- 
sions, the calls of an old friend and ally for redress 
of confessed wrongs. Friend and ally, though she 
be, we will not consent that questions of national 
justice, or national honor, are to be adjusted on prin- 
ciples of etiquette ; or that she shall disregard her 
solemn pledges by any courtly protestations of 
wounded sensibility. 

In whatever direction we turn, we find strong 
motives prompting us to vigorous exertion to pre- 
serve our model of a free government, not merely 
for ourselves, but for the benefit of the human race. 
We will then soften the asperities of party spirit — 
we will rebuke, with calmness yet decision, the 
slightest attempt to mar the beauty of this Union, 
come from whence it will — we will use every effort 
to scatter wide and far the blessings of education — 
we will spare no efforts to bind all sections of our 
wide domain closely together by such improve- 
ments as shall create a greater community of 
interest — we will look well to all the institutions 
given to us by our fathers, and above all we will ad- 
here to the Constitution as the great sheet-anchor 
of our freedom. Let our example rebuke the cal- 
umnies of the old world — let it shine with a pure 
and steady light, a guide to all who are seeking after 
the blessings of liberty. 

We have much to animate us — much to imitate 
in the examples which distinguished patriots have 
set before us. We should study well the Roman 
4 



26 

virtues of those who carried on the great work of the 
revolution. There was Franklin who went from a 
printing office, and took his place in conspicuous rank 
in one of the most august assemblies the w^orld ever 
beheld, to assist in the vindication of a nation's rights. 
By his side, stands the clear-headed, honest and in- 
dependent Roger Sherman, w ho threw aside his me- 
chanical pursuits to assume the duties of a states- 
man — duties which he discharged with great firmness 
and sagacity. You will discover in the brilliant 
constellation the intrepid Greene, who abandoned 
the hammer and the anvil, at the call of his country 
and fought the battles of freedom at the right hand 
of Washington. I point to these examples to illus- 
trate the truth that no pursuit deters or disqualifies 
a citizen of this republic, if he wishes to press for- 
ward to posts of eminent honor and usefulness. You 
will not forget one among your nation's benefac- 
tors, one possessing superior claims to your applause, 
raised by Providence to be a father and saviour of 
his country and a blessing to the human race. But 
the pen cannot describe his virtues, the tongue can- 
not utter his eulogy — you must read it, in the insti- 
tutions wdiich he founded by his wisdom and de- 
fended by his valor. It shines out from almost every 
page of your history ; you can turn to no point but 
its light is around you and above you. It is as un- 
fading as the stars of heaven. 

But, Fellow Citizens, there is a constellation in 
this quarter of the heavens, quite as brilliant and 
conspicuous as that to which I have alluded. From- 



27 

inent to your observation, will be found the liberal, 
accomplished jet "• proscribed" Hancock. Truly 
did he stake his '' life and fortune" upon the cause 
of independence. He dealt out his princely estate 
with profuse generosity to sustain the mechanics, 
when the distresses of the times lay upon them with 
a heavy hand, it needed the aid of no statute of 
distributions to scatter his wealth. Opulent, though 
he was, and abundantly able to retire from the l)ustle 
and clamor of the sharp contention with Great Bri- 
tain, yet he preferred to rush into the cause of lib- 
erty, with a manly enthusiasm, and to stand shoul- 
der to shoulder, with your illustrious townsmen with 
Sherman, with Franklin, with Jefferson, with Wash- 
ington and their noble band of compatriots, to resist 
every inroad of oppression and to counsel and adopt 
the most vii^orous efforts to counteract the designs 
of his country's enemies, regardless of all personal 
dangers or sacrifices. For this he was selected, 
with that unwavering and consistent patriot Samuel 
Adams, for proscription and as worthy of ''condign 
punishment." But he regarded the folly of his foes 
with proud scorn and derision, and has planted his 
name in the heavens, where it shall stand when gen- 
eration after generation shall have passed away, ad- 
mired by all who love the character of a generous, con- 
sistent and enthusiastic patriot, who boldly defied the 
menaces and resisted inch by inch the encroachments 
of arbitrary power. As you go upon the soil conse- 
crated as his birth place and by his name, may you 
impress deeply in the heart, the recollection of the 



28 

virtues, which constitute his fame, and make his 
name illustrious in the annals of freemen.* 

There repose in yonder enclosure beneath a mon- 
ument erected by filial gratitudef the ashes of a pat- 
riot as ardent, as inflexible, as enlightened as any 
which American Liberty attracted to her cause. He 
did much to set the ball of revolution in motion ; but 
w^as not permitted to wdtness its anxious progress 
and glorious consummation. He did not live to fill 
those posts of honor to which a grateful country 
would have called him ; but he lived to connect his 
fame and memory w ith that of his country ; and to 
secure that imperishable renown which seemed to be 
the darling passion of his heart. As he breathed out 
his noble spirit in sight of his native land, which he 
w^as not permitted to reach, his last accents were for 
his country and his country's friends. 

We stand upon holy ground. We feel as if in 
the presence of another patriot, whose fame now 



* The company dined under a pavilion erected on what is now 
called the Hancock lot. The dwelling house of Rev. John Hancock 
was situated on this lot. The cellar may now be seen. In this house, 
his son, John Hancock, President of the Continental Congress and 
Governor of Massachusetts, was born. This lot afterwards became 
the property of President John Adams, and he, by his will, gave 
it to the town of Quincy, on the condition that an Academy should 
be erected upon it, to defray the expense of which, he also made 
provision. 



t The monument to the patriot Quincy was erected by his son, 
the present President of Harvard University. The inscription was 
written by Hon. John Quincy Adams. 



29 

covers a century of renown.* He yet spcEiks to 
us from these very walls, with an eloquence which 
breaks not upon the ear, bui touches the heart. 
Though the tongue which once advocated the cause 
of liberty, with such boldness and decision, is silenc- 
ed forever, he yet speaks to us with all the elo- 
quence of patriotism. His example yet lives. His 
impassioned appeals are yet felt. The last senti- 
ment upon his lips and the dearest to his heart, is 
written deep on the tablets of memory. We will 
cherish it as an invaluable legacy to his country ; 
we will be guided by it, through all the vicissitudes 
of fortune ; it shall be our battle cry if the sacred 
soil of liberty is invaded ; faction shall shrink when 
it is pronounced ; disunion shall fly before it ; let it 
be the living and dying sentiment of every American, 
as it was the living and dying sentiment of the illus- 
trious Adams— INDEPENDENCE FOREVER. 

Fellow Citizens — You have around you elo- 
quent monitors to the discharge of every duty to 
your country. You stand amid the very pillars of 
the Constitution. It is expounded to you by the liv- 
ing and the dead. Cling to those pillars as to the rock 
of your safety. Should, by any violent convulsion, 
the liberties of this people be destroyed, and the 
temple of your freedom razed to the ground, let the 
places where rest the ashes of those patriots who 
defended them, be consecrated in your memories ; 

* In October next one hundred years will have elapsed since the 
birth of President John Adams. 



30 



let the sentiments which fell from their lips sink 
deep into yom* hearts. The world shall still revere 
them for their services in the cause of humanity 
and enroll them among the benefactors of our race. 
Let us study these great models — let us go for- 
ward wdth union and harmony in the cultivation 
of the virtues and the graces which strengthen and 
embellish society. We will bury beneath the waves 
of public opinion the passions and the prejudices 
which retard our progress ; and spare no effort to 
give an impulse to all the principles which promote 
our social and political prosperity. 



m 



HYMN. 

The following Hymn, composed for the occasion, by Rev. W. P. 
LuNT, was sung by the Choir; 

1. 

O Thou! to whom our Fathers pour'd 
Their fervent prayer in danger's hour; 

Thy glorious nature be adored — 
We bless Thy grace, we own Thy Power. 

2. 

A nation's birth we celebrate ; 

A nation's thanks to Thee shall rise ; 
Before Thee thronging thousands wail ; 

Accept a nation's sacrifice. 

3. 

While from the River to the Sea 

Glad multitudes salute this day, 
Here let the children of the free 

To God their thankful homage pay. 

4. 
Around us are the forms of those 

Whose names are writ on glory's page ; 
Beneath us lie in calm repose, 

The relics of the honor'd sage. 

5. 

Above the Patriot's sleeping dust, 

The shout of grateful triumph raise ; 
In God was fix'd his steadfast trust, 

To God we swell the hymn of praise. 

6. 
O Thou ! to whom our Fathers pour'd 

Their fervent prayer in danger's hour ; 
Thy kind protection still afford ; 

Still would we own Thy Sov'reign Power, 



LlBRfiRV OF CONGRESS 



0011 801 ''^'^^ 



